About Dogs

Good basic education together with consistent rules are the recipe for a nice life together with your dog. A disobedient dog that constantly challenges you not only leads to frustrations among you and your family members, but can also lead to unpleasant situations.

To understand the importance of good obedience, it is necessary to know what the rules of canines in nature are. Your dog will see you as a member of the pack. If you want to be the owner of the pack as owner, it is important to understand the hierarchical structure within the pack and to apply it in daily life.

The rules within a pack

Within a group of dogs living together, the pack, there is a social hierarchy in which certain dogs assume leadership. The dominant alpha male and dominant alpha female take the lead. In addition, there are also subdominants and young males and females within the pack. The alpha animals dominate the subdominant animals, which in turn dominate the younger animals. This creates a fairly stable group in which there is little fighting.

The alpha animals in the pack have the right to eat first and they also have the best resting places at their disposal. When a bitch or male reaches the age of 4 to 5 months, the dog develops the tendency to take over the leadership. In our dog that is also called the puberty of the dog and is a crucial period where the owner should pay attention that the dog is not dominant over him. Incidentally, it is exclusively the alpha animals in the pack that have the privilege to produce offspring.

The basics for having an obedient dog

Now that we know briefly how the rules apply in a pack, it becomes clear how we should deal with our dog on a daily basis. For the dog it is clear who the boss is in the house. With the giving of rewards and punishments we can also adjust the behavior a bit and that is why we also give some tips that you need to pay attention to doing this well.

Stay in control of the dog

For the dog, the people in the family are members of the pack. The rules in the pack are that the dominant dog is the boss and that all other members are subordinate. To ensure that the dog behaves as you wish, it is important to let your dog know that you are the boss of the pack. This can be done by keeping a number of rules in daily use :

– teach the dog where his place is (the basket).
– only give the dog food after you have eaten.
– make sure your dog really goes aside if you want to go through it.
– you decide when to play, the dog starts with a toy, then do not start.
– always give your family members priority over the dog, for example with greetings at the front door.
– when you come home you always let the dog enter the last one in line.

Remember that a dog who sees his boss as the leader of the pack becomes his most loyal companion.

To be consequent

It is important to be consistent in terms of rules and that all family members adhere to this. If a dog is not allowed to climb on chairs and benches, this means that this is never allowed. A dog that has no clear rules can become very rebellious and challenge family members. Some dogs can also become confused and insecure, without clear rules, if something is allowed on one occasion and the other is punished for the same time. Therefore, speak clearly with all family members what the dog can or can not do, so everyone can keep to it.

Reward good behavior and punish bad behavior

In education it is important to reward good behavior. Punishing behavior can also be punished, but has less effect than rewarding good behavior. Moreover, punishment is crucial to do this only when you catch your dog in the act. Punishing a dog for destructive behavior after you find a havoc at home when the dog is in his basket is completely wrong and the development of behavioral problems such as separation anxiety in the hand. The dog must be able to make a connection between the punishment and what he has done wrong at all times. Of course, the punishment must always be appropriate and never happen with the hands. Your hands are also the hands that give him confidence and pet him. The dog should not be afraid of your hands under any circumstances. Never send your dog out of anger to his basket. His basket is his sleeping place and his own safe place. If you want to send him somewhere somewhere, do it to a place that is not so important, for example the corridor or a corner of the room.

Types of rewards

Rewards can be done with a dog biscuit or a dog biscuit, but can also be given with a stroke or words like ‘good’ or ‘well done’. It is also important here again to give the reward at the right time, so that the dog makes a connection with what he has done well and the reward that follows. For remote rewards such as agility, clicker training is very useful. For this the dog must first be taught that a click of the clicker training is seen as a reward. This can be done by practicing a reward, such as a dog’s biscuit, after every click. Afterwards the ‘click’ in itself, through association with the goodies, will also be seen as a reward by the dog. The use of the voice Pitch and volume Rewards and punishments made with the voice must be short: like ‘good’, ‘well done’, ‘no’ and ‘wrong’. The tone that you say it is more important than the volume. Punishment has little effect, because a dog has a very good hearing even though he sometimes does not. It is better to say it again when not responding to a ‘fuss’ or ‘no’, but in a lower tone. The mother of a puppy growls even if the little one does something that is not allowed. And when mom is happy, she makes high sounds. When rewarding with the voice, it is therefore advisable to do it in a slightly higher tone. Using the name of the dog The name of the dog is only used when you want to attract the attention of your dog. When giving commands, it is not enough to just call the name. People sometimes forget how important commands are. Sometimes – or even screaming – owners only call the name of the dog. Do the dog then apparently have to think that he has to come or something? Not his name, but the command tells him what to do. Examples: “Ella, sit!” or “Ella, come!” However, do not use his name or pass, because then the name loses its value in the attention of the dog. Moreover, his name can become something very negative, in combination with eg the command: “No!”. Puppycursus Rather a course for yourself than for your dog Especially when you take a dog for the first time, it is very useful advice to go to a puppy course with your puppy and then also follow follow-up courses, such as a course in elementary obedience. You learn to deal with your puppy on such a course and the puppy learns to obey essential commands. What many people forget is that puppy courses are meant to teach the owner a little more than that the dog has something to learn from it. Participation in courses alone is therefore not sufficient, even after the weekly meeting the course needs to be continued consistently at home. Only then does the course have a chance to succeed. In principle, it is therefore also possible to learn everything from books, but participation in a puppy course can be just that push, making it easier to keep up with the upbringing. Good opportunity for the socialization of your puppy Participation in a puppy course also offers a great opportunity for the pup to play with other puppies. This is especially important for socialization, so that the dog can deal with other dogs without problems in a later stage of life. Young learned is old done At a young age, commands and rules can be taught the fastest and best. So young learned is done old! Although puppies look very endearing, it is important to consider in time which basic commandos should be able to obey your puppy at least at a later age if he is big and strong. So think carefully in advance what the rules will be. May the puppy on the couch, remember whether he later if he weighs 60 kg or just from the outside of a mud pool comes in, still still on the couch wants. Enter the rules so when the puppy are already out if this later age will also apply, because it is not fair for a dog to learn it later in life. If at least it succeeds.